Typical Bee Hive Configuration

HIVE AND WOODENWARE BASICS Philadelphia Beekeepers Guild

The Winehouse Beehive Not common in this area

The Whitehouse Beehive feeder supers excluder brood boxes hive stand? sawhorses and planks

Anatomy of a Beehive

A good base A base sits on the ground. You don’t need anything this fancy. You can use cinder blocks or whatever you have. The point is to keep the bottom board oﬀ the ground The bottom board is what it says. The rest of the hive stacks on top of it and it has one open side that lets the bees go in and out of the hive.

Screens Required A screened bottom board has a hardware cloth screen instead of solid wood. This is essential for controlling mites. Mites are parasites that can kill your colony. With a screened bottom board they fall through the screen and can’t get back on your bees. This can reduce mite population by 30%

A matter of depth Deep or Hive Medium or Shallow Super Body Illinois Super 5 11/16 deep 9 1/8 deep 6 5/8 deep ~25 lb when ~60+ lb when ~35 lb when filled with filled with filled with honey honey honey

Frames and Foundations The frame is where the action is. The wooden frame bees build their comb in the frames using the foundation as a template. wax foundation LOTS of options here. Wax foundation with embedded plastic foundation wires Several kinds of plastic foundation plastic frame/foundation No foundation Small Cell, Drone, etc.

Frame parts Top Bar - wedge or grooved wire is used with wax foundation if the frame will go in an extractor Sides - match the depth of the box Bottom Bar - divided or grooved

Frame Styles Wooden Frames Wax Foundation (wedge top bar, divided bottom bar) Wax is usually reinforced with wire or pins Plastic Foundation (grooved top & bottom bar) Plastic Frames - one piece frame and foundation Wooden Frames with no foundation

Topping it off Inner cover sits directly on top of the hive. It controls access and provides a minimal area for the bees to propolize. Outer cover or telescoping cover has a lip that comes down over the sides. It provides protection and lets you control access and ventilation.

Feeders There are lots of ways to feed your bees. Jars are the cheapest and at a small scale the easiest. You can also use ziploc style plastic bags.

A few other necessities Entrance reducer gives a new or weak colony a smaller opening to defend Mouse guards are used in the winter to keep out mammals. You can use 1/2” hardware cloth for this. Queen excluders are used to keep the queen from getting into the supers and laying eggs.

Typical Conﬁgurations All Medium Deep & Supers

Common Variations on the Theme 8 frame - The boxes hold only 8 frames instead of 10. Smaller boxes are lighter and easier to handle Plastic - Molded from polystyrene: no nailing required, well insulated, light Top Bar - Bees build comb from bars without frames. ???

Plan for success Don’t just buy the minimum to save money. You want everything to be ready to go when you need it. Decide on how you will feed and extract your honey Start saving your spaghetti jars Keep in touch with the Guild for extraction events

Tools of the trade Beekeepers love gizmos You don’t need that much - veil, smoker, hive tool, gloves These are best purchased through one of the big online houses. They’re light and shipping won’t kill you. Please ask one of the experienced beekeepers after the program if you have questions

Group Order The club is organizing an order from Forest Hill Woodworking in Lancaster County Deadline for this order is 2/25 2 standard conﬁgurations: All medium (6 boxes) - $190.00 2 Deep, 3 medium - $180.00 includes boxes, frames, wax foundation, screened bottom board, inner & outer covers, entrance reducer & mouse guard; delivery & assembly workshop - you will have to assemble and paint your equipment but we’ll show you how.

Assembly Workshop We will bring all the equipment to Green on Greene - 6819 Greene St. on Saturday March 13. You will be able to pick it up there. No other arrangements can be made at this time. We will have a few beekeepers there to show you how to put your equipment together (it’s easy)

Other Places to Buy Brushy Mountain Bee Farm - http://www.brushymountainbeefarm.com/ Brushy Mountain oﬀers free shipping on your ﬁrst order to Guild members - this is a great deal! Dadant - https://www.dadant.com Kelley Bees - http://www.kelleybees.com/ Drapers Super Bee Apiaries - http://www.draperbee.com/index.htm Beeline -814-585-4699 Many Others

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Typical Bee Hive Configuration

by David Harrod on Feb 03, 2010

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Typical Bee Hive Configuration — Presentation Transcript